In homes as well as other structures it is often desirable to be able to plug an appliance such as a microwave oven to one outlet of a duplex A.C. outlet and to plug a refrigerator into the other, or to plug both into outlets fed from the same fused line. Under such circumstances the fuse may blow if both appliances are on at the same time. Convenience would require that the outlet for the refrigerator be de-energized whenever the other appliance is turned on rather than visa versa. Whereas this could be done, it is also desirable that the outlet for the refrigerator remain de-energized for a time as long as several minutes once it has been de-energized to prevent "short cycling", a well known phenomenon not detailed herein that can cause damage to the refrigerator compressor.